The article talks a lot about "managing expectations" and explores all of the issues that may come up with a decision to raise goats in a small area. After raising rabbits in the city I've been thinking a lot about how cost-effective it is to raise animals in the city.

We recently butchered our first rabbit (which is a whole other blog post... I have been spending way too much time playing with the baby bunnies and couldn't bring myself to eat the rabbit meat). The rabbit was less than 5 lbs of meat... and that's after several months of feeding it store bought feed and grass, hay, and garden waste that we have to spend time and energy collecting by hand.

Curious to hear the news about your backyard barnyards: Has raising animals been worth the money and energy for you? Are some animals better than others?

As for now the bunnies and chickens are a part of my life, no matte if they are cost effective or not. It's nice having them around to eat the plant matter we can't eat, and they are a pleasure to watch!

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To me it's definitely worth it. I actually weigh/count everything we harvest and keep track of all expenditures and even with major vet bills this year on our goats, we are still coming out ahead on cost.

BTW, that article features my friend Heidi. Just this weekend we were talking about how the media skews everything (my husband and I have been getting coverage recently and they've completely gotten everything wrong). She said they just walked around her property asking about damage they have caused. They seemed to have very little interest in anything else.

It's just like buying organic vs cheap big name brands. By spending a little more for an item, I find that I am more mindful about what goes into my mouth. I appreciate and savor my nourishment much more, and make more of an effort to use left overs, not toss them. Very little food ends up in the garbage. Result...I am not spending any more over all than I did before.

Aw Rachel you are so good. We've been weighing out all the produce and tallying profits from the Boone Street garden but haven't done that with the backyard livestock. They're more of a lifestyle choice at this point! Interesting point about the media, it's always nice to get a peek into the background of an article. Sounds like they had a story in mind going in!

It's definitely true that the comparison has to be made to the costs of organic/homegrown food not industrial food. More inspiration to keep on spreading the word about the REAL costs of REAL food!